Something is up.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure what, but something is up. I just get the feeling.<\/p>\n
Maybe it\u2019s Jesus\u2019 wisdom \u201cTo whom much is given, much is required.\u201d (Luke 12:48<\/a>)<\/p>\n I love my work right now; it is a gift. Yet, the question rises: what might be shifting?<\/p>\n I love my husband of 33 years. He is a gift. Is my marriage changing,too?<\/p>\n I love our children and new granddaughter.\u00a0 They are gifts. How can I love them better?<\/p>\n Interestingly, this trip is a gift that my work and calling have given me.\u00a0 It is an adventure in the art of pilgrimage, of traveling with the hope of being transformed by the journey and the intention to open my soul through experience and geography. Several months ago, I found this blessing by the late John O\u2019Donahue:<\/p>\n For the Traveler<\/em><\/p>\n Every time you leave home,<\/em> New strangers on other paths await.<\/em> When you travel, you find yourself<\/em> How you unexpectedly attune<\/em> When you travel,<\/em> A journey can become a sacred thing:<\/em> May you travel in an awakened way,<\/em> May you travel safely, arrive refreshed,<\/em> ~ John O\u2019Donohue ~<\/em><\/p>\n (To Bless the Space Between Us<\/em>)<\/a><\/p>\n Through the thoughtful gift of a friend, I have this blessing beautifully printed on a card <\/a>to take with me.<\/p>\n This blessing makes me think of Lot\u2019s wife<\/a> who could not find within herself the grace and strength to leave the life she knew for a new one in the mountains.<\/p>\n It also makes me think of some of my favorite definitions:<\/p>\n Obedience: progressive liberation from all that is not God\u2019s love.<\/strong><\/p>\n Discipline: remembering what you really want<\/strong><\/p>\n Retreat: not escaping from my life, but simply escaping from all the usual ways I avoid my real life<\/strong><\/p>\n Will I be willing to leave home? To leave the \u201cme\u201d I know and let the place where I am going introduce me to the woman I am becoming?<\/p>\n Jesus said: 32<\/strong>\u00a0Remember Lot\u2019s wife!33<\/strong>\u00a0Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. Luke 17 <\/a><\/p>\n Am I willing to lose my life to save it?<\/p>\n Today as I \u201cwalked\u201d through our itinerary \u00a0via the internet, I felt like crying. For joy and excitement and vulnerability and, yes, a little fear. I have encountered these moist and green places along the way before\u2026 St. Hildegard<\/a> calls them Viriditas<\/a>.\u00a0 I always like who I become\u2026 the process of such becoming however is sometimes not so much fun\u2026 maybe this time will be different.<\/p>\n Something is up.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure what, but something is up. I just get the feeling.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Something is up.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure what, but something is up. I just get the feeling. Maybe it\u2019s Jesus\u2019 wisdom \u201cTo whom much is given, much is required.\u201d (Luke 12:48) I love my work right now; it is a gift. Yet, the question rises: what might be shifting? I love my husband of 33 years. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1089,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,80,95,106,71,56],"tags":[163,160,107,184],"class_list":["post-480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-change","category-god","category-lots-wife","category-st-hildegard","category-transformation","category-wisdom","tag-change","tag-jesus","tag-pilgrimage","tag-st-hildegard"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n Another road takes you<\/em>
\n Into a world you were never in.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n New places that have never seen you<\/em>
\n Will startle a little at your entry.<\/em>
\n Old places that know you well<\/em>
\n Will pretend nothing<\/em>
\n Changed since your last visit.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n Alone in a different way,<\/em>
\n More attentive now<\/em>
\n To the self you bring along,<\/em>
\n Your more subtle eye watching<\/em>
\n You abroad; and how what meets you<\/em>
\n Touches that part of the heart<\/em>
\n That lies low at home:<\/em><\/p>\n
\n To the timbre in some voice,<\/em>
\n Opening in conversation<\/em>
\n You want to take in<\/em>
\n To where your longing<\/em>
\n Has pressed hard enough<\/em>
\n Inward, on some unsaid dark,<\/em>
\n To create a crystal of insight<\/em>
\n You could not have known<\/em>
\n You needed<\/em>
\n To illuminate<\/em>
\n Your way.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n A new silence<\/em>
\n Goes with you,<\/em>
\n And if you listen,<\/em>
\n You will hear<\/em>
\n What your heart would<\/em>
\n Love to say.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n Make sure, before you go,<\/em>
\n To take the time<\/em>
\n To bless your going forth,<\/em>
\n To free your heart of ballast<\/em>
\n So that the compass of your soul<\/em>
\n Might direct you toward<\/em>
\n The territories of spirit<\/em>
\n Where you will discover<\/em>
\n More of your hidden life,<\/em>
\n And the urgencies<\/em>
\n That deserve to claim you.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n Gathered wisely into your inner ground;<\/em>
\n That you may not waste the invitations<\/em>
\n Which wait along the way to transform you.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n And live your time away to its fullest;<\/em>
\n Return home more enriched, and free<\/em>
\n To balance the gift of days which call you.<\/em><\/p>\n